Our campaign for Wayne State University

Wayne State students say, "Thanks!"

Wayne State student writes a thank you note to a donor during the Alumni Association’s annual picnic.

For Wayne State students, a walk around campus reveals the generosity of alumni and friends and how they have contributed to the university community. The Mort Harris Recreation and Fitness Center, the Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center, the McGregor Memorial Conference Center and Reflecting Pool, among many other campus facilities, along with numerous scholarships, library resources and student funds, are the result of private support. On September 10, students had an opportunity to share their appreciation with the university’s donors by writing thank you cards at the Alumni Association’s annual student picnic.

“When our students learn how the university community is supported by our alumni and friends so many of them want to say thank you, and we wanted to give them that opportunity,” said Jana McNair, director of annual giving at Wayne State University. “Knowing that our students are grateful and supported by the gifts they make is so important to our donors.”

Diamond Berry, a political science major in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, attended the event and took time to write a postcard. “A feeling of true appreciation hit me,” said Berry. “I looked around and realized how many of the things that surround me every day are because our alumni love their university enough to play a major role in making sure students like me love it just as much.” In her postcard, she wrote how about how grateful she feels. “Our alumni have created the path that my generation will continue to pave to help Wayne State University, the future of Detroit and all prospective students who have big dreams.”

Courtney Zickel, a pre-social-work student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, also attended the event and appreciated the chance to say thank you. “It means a lot to me to be able to say thank you to our donors because without them we would not have access to a lot of the resources we do here on campus,” she said.

Every year thousands of alumni and friends make gifts to Wayne State University. This funding helps provide scholarships, student programs, academic initiatives and research support all across the campus. Learn more about support students at Wayne State.